Wednesday, September 09, 2015

Farewell to The Baby Grand

Mom has parted ways with this baby grand piano after more than 40 years of ownership! Unfortunately, nobody had played the instrument in decades. It hadn't been tuned in so long that when Mom inquired about bringing it back into shape, she was told it was a lost cause. ALL of the piano's inner workings and the keys would need to be replaced.

Let this be a lesson to others-- If you own a real piano (no offense to owners of electric versions, but they aren't real-LOL), keep it properly maintained. As you can tell from looking at this one, it is a BEAUTIFUL piece of furniture. However, since we didn't keep up with the maintenance, it was nothing more than a huge decorative piece.

I took lessons on the piano when I was 9 or 10 years old. Had a very patient teacher named Mr. Marius Fossenekmper, who once played with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He lived somewhere in Midtown Detroit and took DDOT busses to our home in Sherwood Forest to administer my weekly lessons. I played one recital at which he called me the only student of his who properly used the foot pedals as I played.

The late Marius E. Fossenkemper

(far right) in October 1941 at a

Detroit Symphony Orchestra event.

Sadly, after our move to Southfield in 1976, Mr. Fossenkemper had no way to get to us and we didn't have a way to get me to him so I stopped taking lessons. While searching the Internet for the photo at left, I learned that Mr. Fossenkemper died in 1999 at the age of 96.

I have few regrets in life. Not continuing with the piano is one of them.

Mom had the piano removed from her condo this afternoon. She decided to keep the bench.